I can see (more) clearly now… (and a contest!)

As a food blogger, I receive a number of PR pitches for products, books, events etc… every day. But it’s not every day I receive an offer of a free pair of glasses. Yes, you read that right – a free pair of glasses. Seeing glasses. Eyeglasses. However you say it, it’s something you might not expect to be pitched as a food blogger. yet if you are a glasses wearer and you spend a lot of time in the kitchen over steamy pots or ovens or dishwashers, you might be familiar with this view….

Yes, that’s me, trying to read my copy of the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook (review to follow in a few days!) after I made and poured a cup of tea. Foggy glasses suck, huh? And they take ages to clear up. So yeah, pitching a free pair of Essilor Optifog glasses at a food blogger isn’t such a weird idea after all. Would I be interested? I sure would. Over the summer when I was working at La Cuisine Paris, if I had had a euro for the amount of times I stood in front of an open oven with foggy glasses waiting for them to clear, I could have bought a lot of croissants. So I was pretty keen to try out this new technology.

Fog is a common problem that affects eyeglasses wearers – an unwanted and uncontrollable “blindfold” that can appear unexpectedly and interfere with one’s daily life. Ever been drinking a cup of tea and suddenly blinded? How about when you come inside on a cold day. Or head outside on a hot day from the comfort of air-conditioning. Most glasses don’t perform well in these situations and fog up, often taking 30 or more seconds to clear. To combat this common problem, Essilor developed Optifog, a breakthrough lens with an exclusive anti-fog property. The Optifog lens is activated by the Optifog Activator drops by simply adding a drop to each side of the Optifog lens once a week. You then gently wipe (and clean at the same time) the entire surface of both sides of the lens with a microfiber cloth resulting in what Optifog claims as glasses which are “perfectly fog-free up to one week”.

And how do they perform?

Here’s the same view wearing the Optifog treated lenses:

No fog at all. To be fair, I had JUST treated the lenses right before performing this test.

Three days later and the anti-fog properties have worn off a bit…

But the glasses do clear quickly, after about 10 seconds or so…

So, whilst they definitely don’t hold their anti-fog properties for a week the way I use them, I am happy with the results. As someone whose glasses (and camera lenses) are always dirty because of all the cooking I do, it’s been a bit of a wakeup call to clean my glasses more often! I’m using the Optifog Activator drops about every 3 days for maximum effectiveness – bearing in mind that I cook a LOT, empty hot dishwashers a few times a week at school for cooking club and generally subject my glasses to a lot of wear and tear. The Crizal lenses in these glasses are easy care, scratch-resistant, have glare reduction and dust repellence properties and I notice that they don’t get as dirty as quickly or easily as my old lenses (and not just because I am cleaning them more!). Are they perfect? No. Are they a huge improvement? Indeed.

Disclosure: I received a free pair of glasses with Optifog lenses for the purposes of testing their anti-fog properties. I was not further compensated for writing this post and all opinions are 100% my own.

Want to try this new technology for yourself? Thanks to the kind folks at Essilor, I have one pair of glasses to give away for one lucky Canadian reader

Contest details: The winner receives a pair of glasses with a maximum retail value of $750 including lenses. These lenses can either be Essilor SV 360° Airwear Crizal UV with Optifog if the winner should wear single vision lenses or Varilux S design Airwear Crizal UV with Optifog if the winner should wear progressive lenses.

o The winner must make an appointment an eye care professional designated by Essilor within 4 months from the date they accepted the prize.
o The eye examination if required, is at the winner’s expense.
o If the retail value of the glasses chosen by the winner exceeds $ 750, the excess is at the winner’s expense. If the retail value of the glasses chosen by the winner is less than $ 750, the price will be considered complete and no refund for the difference will be reimbursed to the winner.

To enter: Please email me directly with OPTIFOG CONTEST in the subject line of the email and tell me what recipe is too steamy for your current glasses!

For a bonus entry you can tweet the following message: I entered to win Optifog glasses on @eatlivtravwrite so I can see more clearly in the kitchen! Enter here (Canada only) http://bit.ly/PNSySQ then email me again to let me know you did!

Contest closes on Tuesday October 2nd at 6pm EST. Winner announced Wednesday October 3rd. Good luck!